UW-Whitewater takes third at Federal Reserve Challenge

WHITEWATER — A team of UW-Whitewater students is ranked third in the region for fluency in economic policy.

At the Federal Reserve Challenge in Chicago on Monday, students from 14 colleges across the Midwest were tested on their knowledge and understanding of monetary policy.

Judged by Federal Reserve economists, the Whitewater Fed Challenge team ranked behind teams from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago and ahead of teams from UW-Madison, Marquette University, University of Michigan and more.

“We beat out so many other big-name schools that are a lot bigger than us,” said Mary Cummings, a senior majoring in economics. “I'm really happy with how we did, especially with being up there with Northwestern and the University of Chicago.”

Each team had to use historical economic data and quote from scholarly journals during the two-part competition.

In a 15-minute presentation, each team had to present a prepared presentation about its analysis of the U.S. economy and provide recommendations about what the Reserve should be doing with monetary policy.

Each teams also had a 15-minute open question and answer session with the judges.

The Whitewater students have been preparing for the competition since summer--poring over scholarly journals and data and participating in multiple practice sessions each week, where economic professors grilled them on monetary policy and the economy.

Derrek Grunfelder-McCrank, a junior and double major in finance and economics, has been on the team for three years and is proud of his teammates' growth.

“Watching everyone else on the team learn and develop with this competition is a pretty incredible feeling,” Grunfelder-McCrank said. “I want to be a part of that again next year.”

Northwestern University took first place and continues on to nationals in Washington D.C. on Dec. 2.